Breathing Room

Yoga allows you to pay attention to the breath—and brings greater awareness to the parts of the body that allow us to exhale and inhale fully.

By Julie Gudmestad

Until you start doing yoga, you may never pay much attention to your breath. But with the coaching of yoga teachers--or perhaps just because of your new awareness of your body--you start to see all the ways your breath can vary. Is it quiet or noisy, heavy or soft? Where does it originate and how does it move through you? Is it relaxing, energizing, or making you tense? Helping or hindering your asana practice?

Yoga teaches that the breath exerts a powerful influence on the body and mind--and vice versa. When you're tense or guarded, for example, you may first hold the breath and then take fast, shallow breaths. Relaxed breathing is slower and softer, and has a steady, even pattern. This deep, slow, relaxed breathing, used in Savasana (Corpse Pose) and other restorative poses, is most commonly associated with yoga. But to supply oxygen to the hardworking muscles in an active series of poses like Sun Salutations, we also need a faster deep breathing pattern. And most subtle of all is the finely controlled deep breathing of pranayama. For best results, all three patterns require openness of the breathing space (the rib cage and abdomen) and fine coordination of several muscle groups.

Breath Mechanics

The diaphragm muscle in the middle of the torso is a key player in establishing the pattern of the breath. Stretching like a drumhead across the bottom of the chest, the diaphragm separates the heart and lungs above it from the abdominal cavity and digestive organs below. The muscle fibers then extend inward toward the middle of the body and gather into a central tendon that doesn't attach to the skeleton.

When relaxed, the diaphragm curves upward like a dome. When it contracts, it shortens and flattens, pushing on the digestive organs below and lengthening the chest cavity above. This expansion of the chest cavity draws air into the lungs. The lungs have no capacity to expand or contract on their own. They simply respond to the size and shape of their container, the chest cavity. When it expands, the lungs inflate and air rushes in to fill the vacuum. When the container shrinks, the lungs are compressed and air is pushed out.

To feel the action of the diaphragm, lie on your back. The belly needs to be completely soft and relaxed, so it may be helpful to put some support under your knees. Now place your hands on your belly and feel the movement of your breath. In relaxed diaphragmatic breathing, your hands should softly lift on the inhalation. As the diaphragm relaxes, it returns to its dome shape and the belly softly drops.

In order to take a full breath, the diaphragm and several accessory muscles must work in concert to expand the rib cage in all directions. The accessory muscles include the sternocleidomastoids, which form a V-shape on the front of your neck, extending from the top of the sternum and collarbones up to the base of the skull just behind your ears. It's easy to see them work.

Stand in front of a mirror with your neck uncovered. Near the end of a deep inhalation you'll see the sternocleidomastoids contract. They lift up on the rib cage as the diaphragm lengthens the chest cavity from below. This chest cavity expansion is also assisted by the intercostals, three layers of small muscles that span adjacent ribs. As they contract, they lift each rib up and away from the center of the body, providing both vertical and lateral expansion of the chest cavity. To feel this for yourself, stand and wrap a long, soft belt or tie around your lower ribs, about three to four inches above where you normally belt your pants. Cross the belt ends in front and hold one end in each hand. As you exhale and the rib cage compresses, pull the belt tight; as you inhale, feel the belt expand as the rib cage opens up and out. This expansion is created by the combined action of the diaphragm and intercostals. You can use this exercise with the belt to increase lung capacity and help expand the rib cage in preparation for pranayama.

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